What Is, And What Has Been
by Rhavis
Summary: A Collab with UnmercyfulDeath. Abyss, The Destroyer. Voice of Blood. Two dragons of intangible power have given life to five eggs for five children, but enemies past and present resent that fact. How long can they fight to protect what they love?
1. Perfection

This is the first chapter of what is going to be mine and Unmerciful's fanfiction collab. We're using our own characters, and might make refferences to characters owned by Square Enix

Not as long as I would personaly write but Vox wrote it so I got no say in the matter.

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**Chapter One: Perfection**

The great blood dragon walked into the large circular cavern, a hint of anxious in her steps. She looked to her left, a round circle of rocks around oval, multicolored objects in bright blue and white fire. A different dragon, smaller, without wings, but with a long frill and triangular tail spike looked up from the thin stream of flame he had been raining on the objects. His crystalline like body stood from his crouch, his darker forearms and forelegs catching the fire and reflecting it off the cave walls in brilliant colors. His green eyes stared in question at his mother, whose own large black and red bulk walked over to him.

She lowered her frilled head to gaze into the fire that kept her eggs warm. Her long deep pink tongue slithered out of her mouth, feeling with utmost accuracy the temperature of the eggs. Just one degree too high or too low would kill the precious creatures inside. She knew her first son could very well take care of them perfectly, but her mother instincts would not allow her worried mind to be quelled.

She checked each and every egg, all five. She checked the deep blue egg with a fire kind of design first, the temperature right in line with a male to hatch. A dull orange egg with deep dark red stripes was next, it's own falling right in line with its leftmost neighbor at male. The next, the temperature dropped significantly, and this worried the mother dragoness about the deep purple egg. She breathed a bit of her own warm breath on the egg, hoping that the girl inside wouldn't die. She knew the temperature was well above the dying point, but she wanted to make sure, in an attempt to quite her mind. The deep black egg beside the purple was above the temperature of its left neighbor, and the blood dragon dubbed it male. The final egg was a smoky sickly deep yellowish green with red swirls and stripes fogged around it. It's temperature was perfect at female.

The blood dragon lifted her head, her violet eyes gleaming in wonder, "Three males, and two females. Almost as even as you can get with an odd number." She said to herself.

The diamond dragon behind the eggs had laid down, watching his mother intently. He knew that inside her messed up head, she was cursing his adoptive father for not giving her more females than males.

"Drkhons, be sure to keep a tongue read on the purple and the green. I don't want my girls freezing to death." The diamond drake nodded, before circling and gently huffing his warm breath on those two specific eggs to raise their temperature slowly.

The blood dragon took another tunnel to the immediate left, the smell of fresh air wafting in from the cracks around the large bolder blocking the entrance. She looked at it in a sour glance. She wanted to bad to fly, but her motherly duties had kept her grounded inside the huge mountain. Grumbling, she cursed the rock, who in turn cursed her, and started to walk away.

"Perhaps some fresh air would be good for you, Mother. I can take care of the eggs; I've got their temperature under control. Go, fly. Stop being a grumpy grouch." Drkhons said, his diamond tail tapping the rock gently.

She turned, her violet eyes narrowed, "I'm not being grouchy or grumpy, Drkhons. I'm merely bored."

He snorted, brownish white smoke whisking from his nose, "Yes, your right. You're just being **stubborn**."

Vox bared her back teeth at her son, her right griff twitching in her slight anger. She turned around, and walked toward the wall, admitting defeat quite willingly. She turned her mass into thin streams of blood that squeezed in the cracks easily. She reformed in the tunnel, the smell of trees, animals, and water filling her nose. She breathed it in, and walked up through the curving tunnel to the rock ledge exit. Vast forests of green forests and a river in the distance filled her sight, the bright light blinding her eyes that were used to cave darkness. She looked to her right, seeing the other mountain peaks of the rage go off into the horizon, the same with her left. She looked up, the inviting clouds white and puffy, like they wanted to play.

The blood dragon grinned, before opening her vast black and red wings, "If you so wish, mighty sky. Take me to soar upon you!" she jumped off the edge, folding her wings in, and opening them at the last second. She took flight in blinding speed, her arms and legs against her body like a serpent. Her frill fluttered on her neck, her tail becoming a rudder in the ocean of the sky.

Flapping her mighty wings, she roared a powerful roar, making the woodland animals scurry up trees, birds to take flight, and deer to scatter. She then laughed her draconic accent clear on her voice. She dived down toward the wide long river, wider than her wing span, and flew close to the calm surface.

She dropped her hands, her talons breaking the surface, small water droplets landing on her thighs and feet. She flapped once to keep her glide, pulling in a wing to turn with the river. She knew how liquids flew, a knowledge that only liquid elements know. It cannot be taught to solids, they will never be as graceful because of their stocky bodies.

A pale blue liquid-like dragon burst from the rivers surface, leaping over the blood dragon, showering her in the rivers coolness. The blood dragon pulled her wings up, folding them in, before landing in the river. Her body turned into a snake, only letting her limbs linger in the water for stability. The water dragon formed her head from the surface, her deep dark blue eyes looking at the blood dragon with a kind gaze.

"Vox, my daughter, I have not seen you upon the mighty sky for months, dear one. I had feared of your fate. What has kept you from flying free, dear child of mine?"

Vox, the blood dragon, tilted her head down, her various jewelry tapping together gently, "I have been busy mother. Abyss, has taken good care of me, please calm your worrying." She said, walking a fine line or truth and white lies.

The water dragon, knowing her daughter too well, knew that there was more to the answer than just being busy.

"My daughter, all your life, you have never given me the complete truth. I've had to reach down your black and red throat and pull it out with much strife. My dear, I'm getting old, don't hassle me anymore." She said, a snap to her words.

The blood dragon, with a glint in her eye, responded, "Ah, but mother, you haven't aged a few millennia since the last time we've spoke. You can't be that old."

"Your five billion, Vox Vocis, I'm nearly double that."

The blood dragon smiled, ignoring the fact that her comment went unheard, "If you must know, Abyss has done more than just taken care of me."

The water dragon narrowed her eyes, her stern gaze piercing through her daughter like a watery spear.

Vox smiled, her violet eyes dancing in mischievous joy, "Drkhons is tending to eggs."

The water dragon snorted, "It's about time that drake got a mate, his wings should be popping anytime soon-"

"Drkhons hasn't mated yet. He doesn't even know any females of his age yet."

The water dragon looked confused at first, but her eyes widen when she caught on. Her jaw dropped and the river started to make rapids.

"Vox Vocis Cruora De Vita La Elementia!" her mother roared in anger and disbelief, the river tormenting from her wrath, "Do you know how dishonorable it is to mate with a dragon not of the line of Vita?!"

Vox narrowed her eyes, "I'd rather mate with a slug than with any of the idiotic Vita ass-kissers that call themselves 'noble dragons'!" she snorted and tossed her head to the side, "Besides, I stopped caring for honor a long time ago. Do you not remember what you sung to me so many times? I've finally started listening."

The water dragon gapped at her daughter, blinking, looking very dumbstruck. She shook her head, regaining her elegance, "my daughter, you must be careful. Vita knows of every being borne, even those that shouldn't be. You remember what happened to…oh, what was his name….Namesake?

"Naeovex."

"Ah, yes, Naeovex. You remember? She caused that horrid action! And she'll cause the death, or at least the maiming, of these new hatchlings! Vox, she doesn't like such things."

"what the hell are you talking about, she never liked me to begin with, so why should I be any more worried?

Water glared at her, "Remember those words, for fate likes to twist himself around such things and bite you in the ass." She reached forward and nuzzled her daughter like she had when the blood dragon first hatched, "just please, take care, my daughter. Vita may or may not do anything, but if she does, you must be prepared."

She pulled back, returning the river to its calm nature, "Take care, dear, and congratulations. You have indeed fulfilled the one refrain from the daughter song I sang to your heart. Take Care, she is kind and loving, and will protect you. Farewell, my precious daughter."

The water dragon fell beneath the surface, becoming one with the river again. The blood dragon swam to the river bank, turn and looking at the shining water one last time, "I will, mother." She spread her wings, and launched herself up into the sky again, flying back to her and her mate's lair.

_"He should be back from hunting by now,"_ she thought to herself, her empty stomach reminding her she hadn't eaten in a while, _"Perhaps today he actually caught something with the nutrients I need."_

As she landed on the edge in front of the tunnel, she turned around and took in the wonderful sight once more. The deep green trees, the shining river, the light blue sky, the puffy white clouds….

"It's all just…..Perfect." she whispered as she walked into the tunnel.

The water dragon watched her daughter enter the tunnel, remembering it's placement for future need. She shook her head, swimming with the river again, worry filling her heart.

"Precious daughter of mine….." she sang softly, "Foolish daughter of thane Life's line……perfection never existed, and never will……foolish daughter……you will see in time……"


	2. Recollection and Hatching

OK, I've personaly deicded me and Vox adding bits of what we wrote together for the story will work better XD

I love this chapter!

*EDIT* Vox revised some parts some as to not confuse people and added in the other two hatchlings.

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**Chapter 2: Recollection and Hatching**

Abyss left again in the middle of the night. He wanted time to think about what had transpired. Only a few years ago he would never of considered having a mate or children, but now he had both and did not want to lose either.

For the first time in his eternal existence since his creation he found him self shaping his plans around a family. He had never done that, not even for the Watchers he considered brothers and sisters. He chuckled at him self as his mist form rolled silently over hills and mountains like a soft cloud.

He hadn't even shaped his plans around his pact-partner. But he didn't care about that any more. All he desired was the protection of those he loved, and if even Vita dared test him by attacking the Lair he would show her what power the son of a God could wield at leisure. He moved slowly across the landscape.

Then getting the sudden desire to seek council he tore a hole between two realities and stepped through to his old home. The Crater was silent and empty, the prisons of the Watchers that were still insane looming like a testament to their father. And in the center of the circle their statues made stood a being not even Abyss him self would dare stand against. Eyhain looked over her shoulder as he approached. "Took you long enough to decided to come visit. Here about your worries over your eggs?"

The Destroyer chuckled, "You know me so well after all our time as brother and sister. Yes, I am here because of my worries, what do you see in the future for them?"

The Puppet Master looked ahead as she contemplated his question and Abyss watched as the universe slowed around them. Her power was, compared to his, as close to infinite as anyone could get. She had the power to change something's fate on a simple whim, should they live or die, but even she had to follow rules.

Once she had resurrected him, something that was dictated as beyond the word "possible" and should have been beyond even her power. Yet, she had stretched them to their limits that had never before been called upon to shatter part of reality to bring him back. A creature that was destined to be the end of all things. Abyss had always been thankful for that, and had decided not to try his hand at defeating her.

The Destroyer watched again as she worked her powers and toyed with time to see that witch was meant to be, and meant to happen. To his horror he watched as Vita's masked face appeared. He watched what was meant to happen and growled in anger. He was going to kill that creature…

The vision stopped suddenly and time resumed on it's normal track as Eyhain put a hand to his side, "What comes I cannot stop from here, and I cannot travel between dimensions to stop it. You know what will happen, but you do not know when. Witch I presume is a cold comfort for what will happen." The massive beast sighed as she continued, "You must be there for your mate Vox when it happens. Because when it does happen it will happen fast like a whirlwind. Remember to bring back enough food to help her recover once it does happen. That's all I can tell you, but after that you MUST bring her to me. I will not be aloud to heal her but I can aid." With that Abyss found himself back at the entrance to his and Vox's Lair they let Drkhons share. It was reasonably big, and Abyss knew every nook and cranny because he had been the one to drudge it all out at Vox's request.

He sighed in defeat, this was not the first time he had been unable to stop what he knew was coming but he never liked standing by. It seemed to tear at his soul. Giving up the Destroyer sat down next to the Exit and watched the sky, the stars had always calmed him, even during the war, or before the many battles he had ever been in.

At some point his physical form fell asleep without him noticing as his mind was caught up in thoughts about the past. The thin film of his being he had coated the Lair with to keep an eye on everything about the mountain and inside warned him of Vox's awakening. Giving up he woke and walked in, checking the eggs and sighed. He was uncertain about what the right temperature was for the eggs in Vox's estimate and was worried about accidentally increasing the heat to much.

The Dragons Nytelle had formed after him after her sanity returned to him incubated theirs in live volcanoes across their world. It was a mighty beginning he knew but was slightly overwrought about how they survived. Or how his eggs would survive. Abyss turned his dragon form into a small cloud and floated into the Lair. As he found the nest with a sleeping Drkhons at it he sighed. The drake had been giving it his all to keep the eggs under a careful watch with Vox unwilling to trust Abyss when he said he had a constant watch on them.

The cloud of matter collected around the small stack of rocks and flashed lightning under them, heating them far quicker then even Vox's fire could. The Destroyer stopped in fear of cooking the eggs alive. He was always afraid of doing that… then he woke his adopted son up. The Diamond drake's head shot up in panic, "Are the eggs alright?" The black dragon chuckled softly.

"They're fine, I warmed them up, I think you need to go rest. Falling asleep on duty would have a bad impression on your mother!" The younger dragon sighed in defeat and left for his long unused nest. Abyss laid down where he had just vacated and flashed one more spark of lightning under the eggs to make sure they were alright. He knew little about how Vox could tell an egg's temperature. The process eluded him far more effectively then Espera had!

He shrugged it aside as he continued to watch the eggs, and everything else about the Lair as he sensed Vox coming closer.

O0o

Vox reformed herself after slipping into the main cavern again, shaking her head. A few blood drops flew off herself. She glared at them, and they flew back onto her. She then took notice to the large black creature staring at her from his place next to the eggs. She stared back for a moment, before walking over to her eggs, checking their temperature again.

They were colder than they had been before. Drkhons was nowhere to be seen.

She raised her angry gaze to the large male, teeth bared.

"They are cold." She snapped at him.

"They are perfectly well with the range of being fine, according to what I know of your kind." Abyss replied, _"I must not of heated them up enough…."_

Vox hissed, "They need to be kept warm at all times, Abyss! Drkhons knows this, he should have told. Where is he? You sent him to bed, didn't you?"

The destroyer glared at her with his eyeless head, "He was tired, so I told him to rest."

Vox growled, "Fool! They must be tended to at all times!"

"You worry too much. They are fine."

"Fine my giant black-scaled ass, they are not fine!"

"Ah, so you admit to that?"

"Abyss!"

She leaped over the eggs, swinging her tail at his great horned head. It hit nothing but the stone wall on the other side of his head, as he had turned his head into his natural misty being.

She growled as he laid his head on her rear, a smirking grin on his draconic lips. He was the only dragon other than Vita who could harm her to the point of death. He was the only dragon she couldn't harm, for he had no blood. She spat a mouthful of saliva on his nose, before walking out from under his chin. She wrapped herself around the eggs, breathing her own deep red fire on them. She would not lose her children to the stupidity of a male!

She laid her head down when they were softly glowing in the fire, keeping one violet eye open as she drifted off to sleep. She folded her wing over them, hiding them, and keeping them warmer for longer. "Sleep, my loves…"

Vox slowly opened her eyes, blinking the dreariness away. She blinked a few times, before realizing that the fire had died away. Panicking, she checked their temperature. Furrowing her brow, she checked again, coming up with the same temperature.

"Odd…." She whispered, "Why are they so warm?"

She sniffed the dark blue egg, noticing it smelled different. She opened her mouth, gently biting the egg and moving it into her hands in front of her. She looked it over, turning it over and over, but nothing seemed out of place. Huffing in confusion, she coated her one hand with a thick layer of blood, and then lit it on fire. She held it under the blue egg, illuminating the small hatchling inside. She watched him for a while, before her eyes started playing tricks on her.

"Odd... I thought I saw him move..." she peered closer, and saw the same thing again.

She saw a faint movement of the hatchlings head, tapping its egg tooth against the inside of the egg. She realized with a great shock that the little male was trying to hatch. She put the fire on her hand out, gently tapping the side of the egg until a slight crack could be seen on the blue surface. She put the egg down, holding it from rolling away with her finger. She waited a few minutes, and when the shell did not burst open, she picked it up again, and tapped the side gently until another, larger, crack appeared. She held it gently, waiting for another crack to appear. But it didn't, and she narrowed her eyes. She tapped the egg again and again, making large cracks all over the fiery blue surface.

Suddenly, from near the top of the egg, a thin long flashy object burst from the shell, she shook her head, shaking away bits of egg from her nose. Egg white ran down the side of the egg, making it slippery. She peered closer, expecting to look into bright shining eyes.

She was met with a silver spade, attached to a long dark blue scaled tail. She blinked a few times, before realizing she was holding his egg upside-down. The tail twitched every which way, sometimes tapping against the side of his egg. The sickly slippery egg white covered it, making it look like some horrific slimy blue worm. She gently placed the blue egg on the cavern floor, staring at it closely. The blue tail squirmed; making the egg roll around, like the tiny dragon inside was enjoying the ride. She chuckled slightly, fallowing it closely; to make sure it didn't run into anything. Finally, a small blue limb burst from the egg, near the tail, bearing a thin foot with tiny claws. The foot was a lighter blue than the tail, but it faded into the same color by the dewclaw.

The leg and tail contradicted each other, trying to move opposite of each other, and Vox couldn't help but laugh. She could hear small peeps from inside the egg, like the male was calling for help. She simply lay where she was; she knew that if he couldn't get pact his egg, he wouldn't get through life. She wouldn't help him out of the egg like vita had helped the runt of her hatchlings. The egg moved more slowly across the floor now that the leg was out, but surely, he kept it rolling.

Another limb broke free, what looked to be an arm. The hand was the same light blue as the foot, fading into the dark blue at the thumb, like the foot. The hatchling by now seemed to be tired out, and the egg becoming still. Vox looked at it in sorrow, knowing she had helped too much already. She sighed, and got up, walking over to the egg and picking it up in her jaws. She tightened her jaws slightly, cracking the remaining egg in half.

She put it down, and sure enough, the other legs and arm freed themselves, followed by a spiked and horned blue head. The small daring shook his head, small bits of shell and slimy goo all over his dark blue scales. Vox peered closer, at the slimy limps tried to move in every direction at once. The male hatchling bore long spikes on his head, which the egg white was branched between like a slimy spiders web. He had no griff on his jaw, just a slight black mark where it should have been.

"Such is alright, he may have fallowed abyss on that path." She thought, since Abyss did not have a griff or a frill. She guessed that's where he got the spikes as well.

She notices he had thin, almost golden, horns curving down toward his bottom jaw, ending at a sharp point a tad bit past his nose tip. The hatchlings underside was a multi shade medium blue, and he sported a small bone plate. The same black substance that was on his jaw bone went down his back. She wondered what it was, but pushed the thought aside once she saw his left side. Two symbols on his shoulder and his hip caught her eye, and she was perplexed as to what they were…

The tiny male opened his mouth and started peeping helplessly, his large eyes shut tight. Vox grumbled in annoyance before giving in and picking the small male up in her jaws. She almost gagged as the sickly sour tasting egg white touched her tongue, but she kept her gentle hold on him as she carried him over to where she had been laying.

She put him in her hands, where he squirmed slightly, but he soon calmed when she started to clean his scales. Revolution spread through her taste buds, and despite knowing the answer, she wonder if she could just use cavern water to clean him. Spitting the horrid substance that befouled her mouth out, she continued to clean him, ignore his peeps and squawks of protest.

A small tap on her leg made her look up, to see another egg moving with a small head peeking out. It was the purple egg, one of her daughters. She smiled in mischievous victory at the sight of the female hatching correctly, head first. The small girl thrashed her head back and forth, breaking small bits of egg away at every movement, until she wrestled her one arm out. After that, she just pushed, and her egg cracked and split into pieces over her. She stopped squirming, lying still beside her mother, and the dark egg white slime over her as well.

Vox growled, she would have to clean all of them. She didn't dare trust Abyss to help her, the male was brainless when it came to proper egg bearing.

She placed the blue male where his egg had been, and slightly clumsily, he curled into a ball. She picked up the deep dark purple female, noticing that a small crack had appeared on the black egg. She touched her tongue to the purple hatchlings back, but the girl turned quickly, tiny jaws with even tinier needle sharp teeth biting her soft tongue. Vox hissed, and the girl let go, making her own noise that sounded like a hiss as well. Vox healed the bite quickly, before turning the purple female over and cleaning her belly. The purple hatchling become confused at her new position, and calmed, allowing her mother to clean her without another bite.

"She'll be a feisty one…" Vox thought

After cleaning the purple quickly, she turned her back over and placed her on the cavern floor. The purple hatchling fought with her own limbs, and Vox was sure she wouldn't get far. So she reached for the black egg, setting it in front of her. Not long after, a head broke out of the egg, the disgusting goo covering it as well. Vox blinking in confusing as a faint pink color was beneath the white goo. The hatchlings tail broke out, with was followed by the legs and arms. The hatchlings limbs hung in the air like an upside down dog, and indeed, the pinkish hatchlings was on its back.

But a pink male? It's happened before, but on rare occasion…

Vox cleaned the hatchlings head off, noticing the scale wasn't just pink, but bright purple with pink swirls. Golden flecks and black runes also decorated the scale, and she looked at it in confusion. She continued to clean the hatchling, which wouldn't stop moving. It kept squirming and twitching and trying to crawl away from her, she had to repeatedly keep repositioning the hyper thing.

As she cleaned up the hatchling, she noticed that his proportions and smell was off for a male. So she examined the little one more carefully, and found other things that suggested that her gender estimate was off. The shape of the head, the thinner waist, the longer tail, and overall missing dragon "bits" confirmed her thoughts.

The little swirled and runed hatchling was a girl.

Loud cracks from her side brought her to set swirly next to her purple biter as the sickly green egg started to crack open. A thin nosed slim hatchling burst through her egg, clawing at it frantically. Her sharp egg tooth was still attached to her nose; her sharp claws would be any feral dog's worst nightmare.

She squawked, loudly. Her voice echoed off the entire chamber, and Vox's tail twitched and a kind of fear ran through her. She shook the feeling away, her raised scales returning to normal. The sickly green hatchling folded her long, thin wings against her back, her whipping tail setting. Her closed eyes were clamped shut, like she was suffering from a bad dream. Vox picked the slimy girl up, licking the reddish egg white off of her sickly deep green and yellowish stripped scales. Thin trails of bright red rivered across the hatchling, a black triangular symbol on her left side. Vox peered at it in confusion, but tossed the thought away as she remembered that the blue hatchling had had symbols on his sides as well.

As Vox's rough tongue cleaned off the unusually thin head, the hatchlings eyes snapped open and her head struck upward. Vox hissed as her tongue was injured yet again, the razor sharp egg tooth firmly fixed to the girls snout. Vox glared at the horrid thing, perplexed and slightly angry that it hadn't fallen off. She looked to the others, theirs had fallen off perfectly. But this hatchling's tooth remained firmly on her snout. Vox tried to gently wiggle it loose, but the hatchling made it clear she didn't want her mother messing with it by putting tiny holes in her fingers.

Vox sighed, and cleaned the rest of her without hassle.

The last orange-ish red egg cracked, and a small piece of egg fell off. A tiny nose appeared in the hole, trying to push its way through. But the hole was far too small, and the hatchling had to slowly chip away at it until his frilled head pushed though. Instinct guided him as he squirmed out of the egg, leaving it practically whole. Three sets of spikes ran down his back, and a large frill that reminded Vox of Drkhons's frill was perched on his slimy head. Vox cast a wary eye on the second male, then to the first blue. She picked up the orange-ish male, cleaning his pale red egg white off of his bright orange scale. Tinges of yellow and red were all over him, and his under shade was a reddish orange.

The hatchling also had the starting of a spike on his tail, three pronged horns on his head, and long spikes on his jawbone, like a griff. Small round pebble-like scales that were bright red divided the orange mainscale from the reddish orange rough skin.

Vox kept this male near her, placing the females and the other male in the crook of her tail

But generations of instinct guided the males to fight each other, for dominance of the nest. She heard a loud growl from the hatchling near her, and the orange hatchling fallowed his instincts. Fighting against his limbs, and charged toward where he smelled the other male. The blue male squawked and cumbered over his mothers tail for safety. But the orange leaped over his sisters and the tail, landing on the blue hatchling.

Chatter of small roars, squawks, hisses and squeals echoed in the cavern, even as Vox tried to pry the blue and orange hatchling ball apart. The blue hatchling broke free, and ran (clumsily) across the rock floor. The orange hatchling charges after, him, but Vox grabbed his tail. Blind anger made the vicious hatchling sink his teeth into her fleshy fingers with all his strength. Vox yelped and accidently dropped the small hatchling, who shook it off and ran after his terrified brother yet again.

Abyss opened one sleepy eye, growling about being awaken in the middle of the night. He pushed his large bulk off of the rock he called his bed, yawning the sleepiness out of his mind. He climbed up the near vertical tunnel that led up to the main cavern, poking his great horned head into the middle of a sight he could only label as alarming.

The orange hatchling snapped his jaws at his brother, backing him into the cave wall. The frightened blue hatchling hissed repeatedly, but the orange ignored the threatening sounds. They had chased each other behind a tall line of stalagmites, into a small hallow Vox couldn't reach them in. Abyss fully crawled out of the hole, walking over to his mate.

"What is happening?" he asked, his limited knowledge of her kind had stopped long ago.

Vox hissed, "When there is a clutch of more than one male, the males fight to the death for a kind of championship over the nest. It's a horrid instinct tradition."

Abyss nodded solemnly, "Can you not separate them?"

She glared at him, "I would if I could get to them."

Abyss snaked his hand through the small opening between two of the rocks, picking the orange hatchling up around the middle. The hatchling snarled and sunk his teeth into the hand, making Abyss yelp slightly.

"They have teeth?" he questioned.

"Very sharp teeth." Vox replied.

Abyss pulled the orange hatchling out, ignoring the various bites and scratches the vicious male made. Vox looked at him like he was stupid, but Abyss ignored her as well. He took the hatchling over to the farthest side of the wall and laid down, trapping the angry male with his tail and bulk. Vox tried to clamber over the sharp devil-rocks that kept her other hatchling from her, but to no avail. She finally gave in and turned into a blood rope that pulled the poor hatchling out by his tail.

She returned to her daughters with her son, plopping down around them in a semicircle. She looked to Abyss, who still blocked the hissing and growling male, and she shook her head.

"That won't work forever, Abyss. At one point or another, they will fight." She said, her voice slightly solemn.

Abyss just tilted his head to the side in a sort of dragonoid shrug, "Perhaps. But not today."

Vox nodded, and looked at the new hatchlings with admiration. She didn't know their elements yet, or even if they had any, but she was sure that their personalities and actions would soon give them away. she laid her head beside them, hearing Abyss walk over to her. He lay down next to her, his tail still blocking his young son. He laid his head down, looking over Vox and his new children.

"They are restless." He pointed out. Indeed, the purple pink swirly was clambering over her dark purple sister, who was growling and grumbling. The sickly green just watched nonchalantly.

"I think I can fix that."

Abyss looked at her, his head tilted in confusion. Vox smirked at him, before she softly began to sing.

_"Listen my hatchlings, for now you shall hear  
Of the only seven slayers a dragon must fear.  
First beware Pride, least belief in one's might,  
Has you discount your foeman who is braving your sight.  
Never Envy other dragons their wealth, power or home,  
For dark plots and plans will bring death to your own.  
Your Wrath shouldn't win, when spears strike your scale  
Anger kills cunning, which you will need to prevail.  
A dragon must rest, but Sloth you should dread  
Else long years of napping let assassins to your bed.  
'Greed is good,' or so foolish dragons will say  
Until piles of treasure bring killing thieves where they lay.  
Hungry is your body, and at times you must feed  
But Gluttony makes fat dragons, who can't fly at their need.  
A hot Lust for glory, gems, gold, or mates  
Lead reckless young drakes to the blackest of fates.  
So take heed of this wisdom, precious hatchling of mine,  
And long years of dragonhood are sure to be thine. "_


	3. Fires of Rage And Hate

This collab is AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Me and Vox are loving this up XD

*EDIT* lengthend the conversation between Aequa, I like it better now x3

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**Chapter Three: Fires of Rage and Hate**

A huge white creature of ultimate perfection strode down a hallway of pure white diamond and marble, her feathered wings ruffling with each step. The various gold chains and gemstones or all sizes clinked together, ringing like music off of the perfect walls. It was late, but she wasn't tired enough to sleep. Something was keeping her awake. She sensed a tenseness in her palace, from the floor where her daughters from all her clutches resided.

She turned into a narrower hallway, though any human standing in it would see it was bigger than any passage carved by human hands. Vitas perfect scales reflected the blueish light that illuminated this part of the overall structure. Her long, sharp talons tapped slightly on the heated floor, not too much, she didn't want to ruin them like other dragons did. It wouldn't matter anyway, she would just have her humanoid talon-carer fix them if they did get ruined.

But to let those grubby dirty hands touch her perfect hands on a regular basis made her want to spit in revolution.

The great White dragoness came to an arched doorway, which was the entrance to a spiral staircase. She climbed down the stairs to her daughters' floor, white fire lighting the pale stone walls. A small human male dressed in a fine aqua blue silk shirt and black pants rushed up the stairs, nearly running into the white dragoness's arm. He managed to keep hold on his porcelain tray, which held very intricate dragon glasses on them. He quickly apologized to the great life dragon, bowed low, and allowed her to pass first.

She snorted at him, walking past him, her long tail nearly catching on of the glasses on his tray. He caught it before it fell and continued of the hall, swearing curses at the life dragon in his own human tongue.

Upon stepping foot in the wide, long corridor, She passed the first two rooms. She reached out with her mind, but she sense nothing from her daughters there. She passed the second pair, and still she sensed nothing. One the third pair, however, her favorite daughter of them all, the dragon of water, was residing in the room to her right. Exactly where she sensed the tension was emanating from.

Vita growled, her shiny teeth barred, "What has that nitwit of a child of hers done this time?"

Vita walked straight through the door, like a glowing white phantom. The water dragon looked up at her mother, her deep dark blue eyes immediately glareing daggers at the white dragoness. The water dragon knew that the relationship between her daughter and her mother was not at all well, and despite being loyal to the bone to her mother, she would fight to the death to protect her daughter. Even if she had to fight against her own mother to do so. Vita narrowed her eyes, not expecting the hostility of the turquoise dragons gaze. She took a few steps toward her daughter, acting like she was worried rather than the true anger that was now burrowing in her heart from the vicious gaze.

"My Aequa, my beauty of my first clutch, what makes you so hostile and tense, my dear?" Vita's sly yet ominous voice echoed throughout the blue room.

"I just fear for my own daughter, is all."

Vita bowed her head, walking up to the side of her daughter, dead eyes staring into dark blue ones, "Oh yes, Vox mustn't be getting into trouble now. We can't have that, now can we?"

The water dragon did not respond, backed up slightly on her blue diamond bed that her grandson had carved for her. Her watery wings opened slightly, her protectiveness and hostility increasing. The white dragoness growled, whiteish fire sparking in her jaws.

"Tell me, what has that brainless pregnant dog dragoness do now?" Vita hissed, walked up to her daughter, towering over her. The water dragon stood her ground, looking her mother straight into her black dead eyes.

The water dragon growled, "The last I spoke to her, she said she was going to wage a war against the nameless. Perhaps I'm tense because I fear for my daughter's life-"

"My dearest, purest daughter…" Vita lowered her head till their noses were almost touching, "You… LIE!"

Vitas long taloned hands grabbed the water dragon head, above her flowing griff. The water dragon roared, and tried to shake her mothers hands off. Vita hissed, her dead eyes glowing with smoky blackness.

"Regardless of weather you tell me or not, I will find out what that brainless blood dragon has done!"

The white dragoness hands glowed a smoky black, which burnt into the side of the water dragon head. She roared in pain as the blackest of all magics cast her barriers and lies away, burrowing into her mind. The black magic spidered up Vita's arms, and her wings turned into ravaged black feathers. The colors thirteen orbs chained to the golden mask dulled into a dark black, and the water dragon stared as her mothers true self was exposed. Vita smirked as her smoking black eyes saw into her daughters mind, seeing what was so horrible hidden. She heard the blood dragon's conversation between her blue daughter, she felt the earth's pull of a specific location, she saw the cave entrance. She also saw the eggs, the diamond drake, and an unknown dragon from her daughters peeks within the lair at nights.

Hissing in sudden rage, the life dragon let go of her daughters head. the water dragon fell limply against her bed of diamond, two sickly black burn marks oozing white puss showing the damage of the life dragons black magic.

Vita's deep black eyes boiled with anger, "How DARE she tarnish my line!"

The white and black dragoness roared, turning and running back up the stairs, through her palace to the tallest tower. Her blackened wings tailed toxic black smoke, and her hand still glowed with black magic. Any servants or slaves that was in the path she took would not live to tell of the horrid sight of their highest queen.

Vita charged up the towers stairs, across the room to the open ledge, and leaped out into the downpour or rain that refreshed her realm every so often. The black night and blazeing winds hid her as she flew to the end of the realm that would take her to her first paradise.

Earth.

Vita roared in rage as she broke through the nighttime sky over a mountain range on Earth.

"She shall not live another day, and neither will those eggs!"

o0o

Abyss Watched the hatchlings as they clambered over their mother in a playful mood. It was all so… peaceful. Abyss never wanted it to end, yet as he sensed time about him shudder he knew it was about to come to an end. The Destroyer stood and nudged Drkhons, "I want you to keep an eye on those six. I don't worry about Vox but the kids might get her into trouble." The drake grinned at him with a light chuckle. He knew what Abyss meant.

The black leviathan left to find food. As he hunted, a black cloud spread across the small forest found at the base of their mountain he recalled his thoughts of the previous night. He also regretting not telling Vox about what he knew, and hoped she never found out.

Knowing as much as he did now was tearing him to pieces, even as he held the secret. If his mate found out he would shatter. Abyss shoved his thoughts aside with predigest and focused on the hunt managing to bag six large bucks. He turned for home, sensing Vita coming closer, "It begins." He forced the cloud to it's greatest speed as he rushed home.

o0o

She struck fast.

Vita tore through their lair like a hurricane, blaring white jaws opening and snapping shut in a blink of an eye. Her rattling griff scrapped against the cave walls, her golden horns preventing her from squeezing the rest of her head through.

Vox snarled, throwing herself over her hatchlings. Drkhons, carrying heavy wing sacs, charged into the cavern and hissed at the life dragon. His eyes flashed brightly and a diamond spike shot up and caught the life dragons bottom jaw, impaling it.

The white dragon roared, shaking the mountain the lair sat in. She thrashed her tail, which still stuck out of the tunnel she had squeezed herself in.

The diamond spike retracted and Vita was able to turn her head enough to shoot a white fireball at him. He dodged, thankfully, taking cover in the tunnel he had just come from.

Vox took this opportunity to charge and attack Vita's right eye. Vita, however, was not blind and swung her head back and smashed the blood dragon into the wall.

She used her pact link to call across other pact links to the one she needed,

"Abyss!" her voice was shrill and desperate.

Drkhons, risking his own young life, charged out and covered the hatchlings himself, his half siblings squawking and crying in fear.

One, however, preferred to be with her mother than her half brother.

Vita roared and tried once more to get her head through, but the golden horns would not allow it.

Vox hissed and snarled, her one leg being broken and her one wing shattered completely.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched in horror as a single small object was running clumsily toward her.

Drkhons tried to snap up the small females tale in her mouth, but he could not move, for he had several others to protect. he missed the tail, and tried to diamond rope the poor girl.

His rope would had caught the female, if Vita hadn't have used her own rope-like power to pull the squealing and screeching hatching toward her.

Vox roared, her eyes going blind, her brain numb to the pain of her body. pure rage filled her, rage that only a mother could muster. Ignoring her lame leg and wing, she charged over the Vita, leaping at the life dragons eye.

Red blood mixed with Vita's black blood on her jaw, and the hatchling in her jaw fell silent.

Vox snapped her jaws shut on the life dragons nose, her talons, through sheer rage and the power that came with that rage, dug dip into Vita's scale and flesh. She pierced the hard golden mask like butter, her talon gushing through the life dragons right eye, making her roar in pain.

The limp and bloody hatchling feel to the cavern floor, but Vox did not let go. she raked her talons down, ripping through the mask and face scale, down all the way to her jaw.

Vita tried to back up, her own talons failing uselessly to hold a foothold for the massive white dragoness. She pulled her head back, but Vox leaped once again, slashing the life dragon's throat virtually in two.

Vita hated both of the blood sisters. The first had been a nuisance, bringing a wounded human male to her palace!

_But they were strong_, she thought. The first sister also managed to set her blind rage on Vita, after the humans tragic death. Vita had barely survived that attack, and Vox was much more stronger than her younger sister.

Cruoranex had made a mistake in her battle: she didn't finish it. Vita knew that Vox would make damn sure that she finished her own battle.

The life dragon screeched and snapped at Vox's other wing, tearing it into uselessness.

_There_, thought Vita, _now if I try to fly from her, even if she wanted to, she couldn't fallow me.  
_  
Vita pushed herself out of the tunnels and launched into the burning sky of sunrise. Vox fallowed her until the edge, where not even a mothers madden rage can make a broken winged dragon fly.

Vox's rage left her, and pain made itself present. she crumpled, there on the edge, in pain and sorrow. she waited second by second until she heard Abyss's massive wing beats, thankful that he was there at last.

Drkhons uncurled himself from the hatchlings, walking over to the limp hatchling. he made a diamond ring around the others, he did not want them to see their sisters body. His scale lips pulled into a frown, as he took on the expression of sorrow, "Nor do I..."

He nuzzled the bloody girl with his sapphire blue nose, his curved frill hanging down on his right side. His griff lowered and he bit his lip. He nuzzled her again, turning her small limp head to expose her small neck. gently, he pressed a fingertip, right below his talon, to her neck.

His eyes squeezed shut as he couldn't feel anything.

However, death was kind, and despite him having a rather large grudge against Vox, Nex would almost never take a hatchling.

A black wispy fire circled the hatchling, and the deep voice of Nex rung in the air, "Newborn is too young. Go, young one, live for a few thousand years first, then you can see me again. Go!"

The black fire burst outward a bit, and Drkhons lowly felt a faint heartbeat start. He hissed slightly, his mother could not heal her. Wounds caused by Vita must heal on their own, not even the Pure Angel could heal them.

Large footsteps made him raise his head, to see Abyss carrying his mother on his spined back into the cavern. her head draped limply over his shoulder, her entire frame looking weak and frail.

He slid her off in the corner, near her remaining hatchlings, and then, he too, walked over the dying hatchling.

His eyeless masked face looked grim, and he nudged his daughter slightly with his nose.

"Nex is refusing her, isn't he?" he asked solemnly

Drkhons nodded, "He can only do so for so long, until the other vitals give her up and he must take her."

Abyss growled, "Would the Vitals be so careless that they would let a hatchling die?"

Drkhons nodded again, "Most of them don't care for young." Abyss sighed, his warm breath causing the small girl to twitch slightly.

He brought his head up, expression still grim, but determined as well. "I think I know someone who can help..."

With that he took his young daughter, and vanished.

o0o

Eyhain turned as Abyss appeared, a critically wounded hatchling in his jaws, holding her softly, never wanting to give her up. The Puppet Master walked up to her slowly as he turned into mist and brought the hatchling down to her height. "So easy it would be to heal this one… Yet I can not because of the rules I must adhere to. But I can do this much for her."

With a surge of power she gave the hatchling mechanical parts. Bits and Pieces of odd miss-matched machines added to keep her alive. At first it looked rushed, but Abyss could tell there was care taken to pieces, "Thank you Eyhain, I owe you not just my life but my child's as well."

Eyhain smiled softly, "You do not owe me for her. She had a destiny you do not know yet." And with that Abyss found himself back again inside of his Lair with Vox and Drkhons, a renewed Minekia in his paws.


	4. Skies

We ran out of ideas for this chapter XD

When she had Minekia fall asleep I think nothing would of given me any ideas to pass that, to hell with the rest of it. Short as all hell chapter but it went ahead about 10 or 20 years give or take a few more... hope you like it ^^

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**Chapter Four: Skies**

Minekia sped after her sister with immense stroking wing beats. Daemos dove aside ahead of her into the cloud and the Shadow Dragon followed close behind, her computerized mind calculating where she was heading, and was able to burst out just behind her sister. "I hate when you do that!" the Divination Dragon screeched as her sister almost ran right into her.

The Shadow Dragon roared in laughter as she sped ahead of her sister, "Almost ten years now and you still think you can win by diving through clouds? This is about twenty now Dae!" With that the female raced towards home with her sister close behind.

Daemos had grown to be the relatively smallest of the siblings. She was shorter then Veror by almost three inches, but was the most agile of all of them. About her hovered sparkles of living magic and flashing runes of power. She had the ability to tell what could happen and what has happened far more accurately then their mother and was also very good at finding lost objects, Minekia could attest to that. Another small bit about her was that she was that her sparkle were very bright. And With her inherited ability from their father Abyss she was slightly able to expand and contract her form to an extent.

Veror on the other hand had grown to be a blue resemblance of their father. His horns had grown like the rest of him and his wings looked just like Abyss's. His shading hadn't changed much either, but he hadn't lost his fear of _everything._ Minekia had given up on Veror years ago, her partly mechanical heart tore in sympathy for him but she gave less care to him then Aegrexis.

Aegrexis now, he had gotten into a fight with Veror over clutch "dominance" or something like that witch Minekia didn't care for at the time. Veror had proven far more able to fight when backed into a corner then any one had given him credit for and pretty much tore through his brother. The Dragon of Scars had never messed with him since.

Bertia, the Dragoness of Nightmare, was a weird case even for the Dragoness of Shadow. She played the part of simpleton and hid from everyone when ever she got the chance as if she was afraid of what was around the corner or under the bed. But at times she had the tendency to show a hostile side when she thought no one was looking. Minekia, given a few coaching lessons from Abyss, their father, about how to spread her being about to keep an eye on everything had noticed these few incidents when Bertia looked like she wanted to kill something. Minekia never brought this to light.

Minekia, the Shadow Dragoness her self, found herself to be the oddest of all of them. She was the elemental dragon of shadows. She also had partly mechanical parts to her self. Individually she was the strongest of all her siblings and knew this because she had a more general element to control, and was also the smartest of them. She had learned from their father that her mind was augmented with a computer like chip witch gave her flawless and imperishable memory, along with added thinking power. She was a walking, flying, super computer. But over the years she had been brought by her father to his friend Eyhain to have pieces replaced and changed. He told her never to tell anyone who was upgrading her separate pieces and never to tell anyone where they go to do it. Minekia had promised and never told any one. No one had ever asked either making it all the more simple.

The only flaw she had from her memory being perfect was that she was haunted by the memories of Vita attacking the lair and wounding Minekia to the point she was now. She wanted revenge but knew her power was far too insignificant to harm the life dragon. The thought had always drug her off what ever emotional pedestal she had found her self on.

As the two dragonesses neared the lair of their parents in the massive mountain witch was smaller then the surrounding ones, making it invisible unless you knew where it was and quite homey, they back winged to land. The many caves in the mountain were there to hide the true lair witch spider webbed throughout the entire mountain. It belonged to their parents, and with them stayed their hatchlings, Drkhons, Minekia's half brother, and the occasional visit from the ones known as Opal and Naeovex. There was also the odd visit from the one known as Archaevon, one of Abyss's brothers as he called him, also made short visits every now and then to check up and then would leave. Minekia, before her first sighting of Archaevon, had thought her father was huge. Abyss was easily larger then Vox, but when she laid eyes on the massive form of Archaevon she re organized her meaning of "huge" to "small" and labeled Archaevon as "Way too fucking big."

The green dragon easily dwarfed her father ten fold, and she was thankful his stays were short. Then as Minekia and her siblings grew they started hanging out with their more favored siblings. Something grown from Abyss's race as he claimed when Vox had asked him, Minekia and Daemos came to be best friends, Veror and Aegrexis became another pair -some how. And Bertia was a loner, she also had the habit of vanishing when no one was looking. Other then that life at the lair was routine.

Vox wanted all the Hatchlings to check in around sun high, Abyss wanted them all to check in at dawn and dusk, and every year Abyss would also take Minekia to get her parts changed out. It was a good life.

"Minekia! What's taking you so long? Mother wanted us to check in by now." Daemos's call came from within the long tunnel. The Shadow Dragon sighed and made her way down it to the main cavern where the family was gathered. Veror and Aegrexis were in a corner playing a small game involving strings and stones that Abyss had taught them a long time ago while Bertia was in a corner with her back to everyone. Vox and Abyss were arguing about something, and from the amused look on Drkhons's face it was something stupid. Daemos and Minekia walked in together to watch everything happening, "Happy days…" Minekia muttered.

Drkhons walked over to the two new coming drakes, telling them that Mother wanted to talk to them and Bertia once she was done arguing with their father. They nodded, and lay down next to the wall to wait.

Daemos pulled a bit of her shoulder off, and carved it into a bird… a very sparkly bird. Minekia watched her, but quickly fell board. She laid her head on her hands, quickly dosing off despite the hissed and growls from her parents.

But soon everything was quite, and a slight poke was sensed by her mind. She shrugged it off, and kept sleeping.  
Until she was pulled along the harsh, hard ground by her tail. She hissed in surprise and tried to see who had bothered her quite nap. Her mother's black scaled nose blocked her view, and she cursed, remembering Drkhons's warning.

"And she just had to f**king wake me up…"

Her curses were cut short as she was dragged off a ledge and landed on her head. She rubbed the spot with her mechanical hand, and noticed her sisters were beside her. They looked at her, Daemos grinning like she was about to burst out laughing and Bertia was probably thinking WTF.

Their mother lay down before them, her large wings surrounding them.

"Listen closely my dears, it's time for you to hear the song that I myself was sung to by my mother, and hers before her. This is only for your ears, so do not utter it to your fair brothers. They cannot understand the song of a mother's daughter.

_"Daughter, daughter, shining bright_  
_Precious jewel within mine sight_  
_Oh, if I could soar with thee_  
_As you seek your destiny._

_To see with you the caves and skies_  
_Vistas grand beneath your eyes_  
_Taking wing to horizons new_  
_Let us wonder who waits for you._

_A dragon bight?_  
_A dragon dark?_  
_Victor of duels with battle mark?_  
_A dragon strong?_  
_A dragon keen?_  
_Singer of honors and triumphs seen?_

_Red, Gold, Bronze, and Blue_  
_To your lord you shall be true._  
_Copper, Silver, Black, and White,_  
_Who will win your mating flight?_

_For in your hearts out future rests_  
_To see our line with hatchlings blessed_  
_And for those who threaten clutch of flame,_  
_To feel the wrath of a dragon-dame."_

Minekia yawned, barely hearing the end of the song as she laid her head on Daemos's shining rear end and fell back to her peaceful sleep.

The only place she could escape her horrid memories…


	5. A Time for Everything

Yay! New chapter! Unmercyful is running out of creative juices .

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**Chapter 5: A Time for Everything**

The palace walls reflected no torch light, for no torch burned. The deepest part of Nights flight, everyone in the palace of the Life Dragon was asleep. Their soft breathing and calmed bulks were all in their rooms. Locked there. The slaved were all loved in their masters rooms, or in the slave room if they had none. Every dragon and slave was asleep, and no light burned at this hour.

Except one.

Vita was far too worried to sleep. She normally didn't anyway. But tonight was different.

In her room that was so blinding white it out shone the sun, was but a single thing that Vita treasured more than herself. It wasn't her bed, it wasn't her gold horde, it wasn't her piles up piles of books and ancient writings she read when she was bored. No, none of these things meant a damn to her.

She was sitting like a great white scaled cat in front of a huge mirror of gold and glass, that reflected her perfectly on its surface. No other mirror could, they'd reflect her light. But this mirror gave her what she wanted to see. It gave her own reflection, her own blinding perfectness.

In essence, she was perfect.

Blinding white light shone from her bulk that was easily twice as long as the diameter of the earth. White feathered wings ruffled slightly. Golden jewelry covered neck, arm, wing forearm, even legs and dangled off of the golden mask. Perfect white scales, elegant and startling in every way, covered her entire body. A long, white frill sprouted from the back of the neck, running from the back of the skull to the base of the neck, was folded elegantly over on the left side. A long, gorgeous frill branched from the jaw bone, folded neatly against the white neck scales.

The dragon let her neck fall into the most elegant "S" curve any creature has even seen, her perfectly curved shoulders and just rightly muscular forearms in front of her. She looked like a giant, white scaled cat with perfect white feathered wings and an impossibly long whip like tail. Her face was perfect, the most coveted dragoness of all time. The jaws curved perfectly, her frill wasn't too small or too large, her talons were taken care of all the time, a human or an elf perfecting them with great skill. Just like right now, nearly ten different elves and two humans were working on her scales, her talons, and her feathers.

But by far the most interesting thing on her was her mask.

A mask of purest gold covered her face, with golden horns curving upwards and in slightly, like an elongated circle. Upon each horn were six golden threads that lead to a floating orb, each of a different color. There was also a seventh thread that lead to an orb, but this orb had two strings that went to each horn, connecting them. Each orb sent a unique power down the threads, onto the horns and over the mask to the forehead. To the final orb.

She smiled at herself, admiring and wallowing in her won perfection. Nothing would outmatch her, nothing could outmatch her. Her beauty was absolute, the greatest. Any who was better she would "imperfect". Scar, injure, would. Even kill. It didn't matter. She was the best, the most perfect. That was all that mattered.

But… something was off.

She tilted her head to the side. She studied the orbs a bit. They didn't seem to fallow her movements the way they should. They didn't bounce or hover like they used to. She moved her head a bit more, and found they were lagging severely. Her eyes under her mask narrowed. What was going on?

She peered closer, and saw that one of the orbs looked a bit dull. She blinked, _What? Dull? How could such a thing be?_ They were the Vital orbs, the orbs that kept her Vitals' powers in check and in tune with hers. Without that tune and attachment, Life would fail and the balance thrown off. Utter chaos of elements stripping from elements, the tiniest particles bursting, returning the very beginning. Returning to darkness.

Without life, without her, nothing else could be.

She growled, then gasped when she realized not just one was dull, but all of them. This was a problem. But why would they suddenly get dull? She visited almost all the Vitals daily to keep tabs on them, the only one she didn't was Blood. But blood was twice under her control, attached to both fake horns. She smirked, that useless twit of a dragoness didn't know how perfectly she fit into the Life Dragons plan.

She shook her head and glared at the dull orbs. She needed to fix this problem. And quickly. But how? She didn't know what caused the orbs to dull, all she knew is that they were duller and her power over them was probably weakened. That was unacceptable.

"Tala, who did you say had a nest that was about to hatch?" she asked her Elvin slave that was working on her talons. The elf was the perfect talon worker, she had true talent. Vita had had her for centuries, liking her work so much she granted the elf immortality and youth. The elf with black hair looked up at the huge masked head.

"Flameavo and Icearia, my queen." Tala replied in a sweet voice.

Vita nodded, "I'd like to hold a celebration. As many of the Vitals as possible, not the whole line. As soon as possible."

Tala nodded, not bothering to ask why. She stopped her task and got up, bowing to Vita, then leaving to send the order. Vita smiled victoriously. She hoped that having the vitals around their orbs would replenish their power. If she was wrong… then she'd think on that after she confirmed it wasn't working.

But for now, she lay down and admired herself more, her perfection caught expertly in the large mirror. She admired her own perfection.

Her own carefully woven mask.

She was nothing but a mask of the true horror that lied beneath those perfect scales, wings, frill, nose, everything.

o0o

"No! Try again!" Abyss covered his masked face as Aegrexis tripped and slid off the pedestal again. Veror, Minekia, Bertia and Daemos following close behind. It was a simple exercise. All they had to do was transfer from one foot to the next in a set pattern. It helped with balance and accuracy. And to aid in their desire to get it right he had covered the ground below them in needles making it very, very painful if you fell off. He had demonstrated twice to show it could be done. But he quickly learned Vox's side of the family didn't have as much balance on one limb as he had hoped. He grunted and looked down at the hatchlings trying to pry the some ten thousand needles apiece from their hides, "OK, that's enough for today. We'll practice powers instead."

The kids moaned; last time he had them each try and use their powers to force him to do something he normally wouldn't do. Bertia had tried to flood his mind with nightmares, but instead got scarred for life. After her attempt lead said dragon to run away screaming in fear no one else even tried. This time he was going to teach them how to use their abilities in a fight.

Once they gathered around after removing the needles he sat down in front of them, "Lets start with the basics. While you were younger your mother and I learned that you've all inherited both sides breaths. From your mother you inherited the ability to breath fire by using the gas in the same gland that lets you fly. Once it hits air it ignites. After enough practice you can control the amount of flame and how narrow the stream is. From my side you inherited the ability to breath lightning. Witch is far more powerful then the fire, but it comes with draw backs in the early stages of your life. Now try, one at a time… lets start with you Minekia. You pick up on things faster then the others, you can help me guide them." Minekia whimpered and slunk forward until she was next to Abyss. "Lets start with the fire. I learned from your mother how she does it, witch also lead to the proof I can't do it. What I want you to do is picture your gas bladder and try to draw _from_ it. Once you think you have it, force the gas out; aim for… that rock over there." He nodded to a rock that was about the size of Minekia.

The dragoness of shadow grimaced but did as she was told, closing her eyes in concentration. When she was sure she had it she roared and felt her magic instantly fuse with the fire as it came out of her maw. A black fire enveloped the stone turning part of it into slag. Minekia blinked at what her fire did, not quite registering it. Her clutch mates cheered, Daemos glomped her sister covering her in glitter, "That was cool! I want to try!"

Abyss smiled, "Sure, you all try." The hatchlings gathered around the stone in a semi-circle and all closed their eyes to focus. When they had it they all roared together. Daemos's fire was a purple-white that seemed to dance about it's self. Veror's was a pure blue streak that sliced through the rock. Aegrexis's fire was a white that seemed to slice instead of burn. Bertia's fire was a sickly green that seemed to melt the rock like acid. The combined blast turn the stone into random melted chunks of stone in moments.

Abyss whooped in triumph turning to the hatchlings, "See? I'm not a totally hopeless as a teacher!" The hatchlings burst into laugher at his exclamation. Their mother had repeatedly told him if he couldn't teach the hatchlings well to just tell her and she would take over. So far she had been winning the fight due to lack of progress. A sudden idea came to him, "Now that I think about it there's something that can help you keep your balance. Try and focus on something ahead of you."

Veror sat back from the ruined once-was rock. His eyes widened, and a strong sense of fear grabbed him suddenly. He didn't want to be like that rock, and though he knew his siblings would never even think about turning their fire against him, he was still scared of their combined damage. The fear remained and grew, coarsening through him like a wild fire. His pupils contracted, his fire turned blaring red, and he backed up.

"I don't feel too good….." he whimpered, his voice echoing slightly from itself.

His siblings looked at him like he was crazy, Daemos's brows raising.

"Oh yuck, he's going to be sick!" she yelled

"What? Not again!" Aegrexis moaned

"Dear Vita, he does that a lot..." Minekia murmured.

Veror shook his head quickly, but that only made it worse, the fear wouldn't quell, and it continued to burn through him. In a desperate attempt he spun around and tried to force it out.

And out it came.

A deafening shrieking sound meet his ears and a kind of piercing shockwave erupted from his jaws. It traveled like sound, bursting out yet staying in shape as it fell a small tree a few yards away. The shockwave had been blaring red in color, and traveled almost as fast as sound. Veror blinked at the poor tree, but was amazed.

No more fear burned within him.

"Whoa, What was that?" Daemos piped up, running over to her brother.

"I….I don't know. I think it was a kind of….fear shockwave….kind of thing…."

"A Fear breath." The hatchlings and Abyss looked up to see Vox sitting like a cat near the felled tree, "I heard it, a deep piercing screech. My guess is that it's able to stop any foe in its tracks and cause unimaginable fear within them if hit. But this is only speculation, I'm not sure. Nonetheless, excellent job Veror, you have unlocked one of your Element powers." She walked over and nuzzled him.

She turned her gaze to Abyss then the hatchlings, "What's with the needles?"

Daemos jumped up and down, "I want to unlock my Element power!" she squealed.

Vox looked at her, "Divination is a mysterious element, one of power and known patience. Sit tight and in time, you will learn of all your powers and their limits, my daughter." _Daemos? Patient? Yeah right. _

Aegrexis rolled his eyes, "what's the point of having Elemental powers if we have our fire and lightening?"

Vox tilted her head at him, "Imagine you were stunk in the middle of nowhere. No trees, no grass, no water, no other living person. Only the ground and the air. Imagine your wings were broken, and you couldn't fly, and that you had been walking and were sore. You are the Dragon of scars, useful for giving you foes long-term pain and discomfort. But you still have your Elemental lifeline: the mind connections that join every Element. With this, you can call for help. Had you not had any elemental powers, you would not have this. Any of you, really. Just by having Elements, and your fathers blood on you, you are all formidable creatures. Hone your powers well, push them to their limits and beyond. In time, you will see why it is important in knowing your powers well."

The hatchlings nodded, now knowing that most of them had not just fire and lightening, but other powers as well. They just didn't know what they were.

Abyss nudged Vox, "Amazing, you got them to be quite and think for once." He turned to the hatchlings, "I want you all to practice what powers have appeared for you. I also want you to work on your physical abilities as well. Powers are all good and well, but some times nothing beats a good old fashioned head butt. I learned that from Nytelle long ago." He smiled and rubbed is muzzle against Vox's. "I have something I need to go do. I'll be back soon, try to keep them out of trouble if you can." With that he dispersed into mist and vanished.

"OK, back to the cave." Vox ignored the moans as she herded the young hatchlings back to the lair and into the main cave. Making sure they wouldn't vanished anywhere until their father got back she vanished into a tunnel.

Bertia grunted, "This was an eventful morning. So any one else going to practice their balance before we have to go above the pins again?" She walked to the edge of the cavern before anyone could answer. Veror walked over to join her.

Minekia turned to Daemos, "After dad gets back you want to go down to the beach? I think there might still be some clams down there. We might find a pearl or two." Daemos's smile was wide making Minekia giggle evilly. But sudden wing beats echoing down the tunnel into the cavern drew all of their attention. Each hoping it was their father so they could leave again. But when a massive green dragon and a blue dragon half his size both came in alarm swept through the hatchlings.

Each hatchling was about one fourth the size of their mother. Hardly any bigger then a human. Thanks to their father's genes they were to grow rapidly and become large. But until those years came for the random growth spurts they were small. Minekia hissed as she stood in front of Daemos, "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The other Hatchlings drew around the black dragoness.

The larger seemed about to speak but the smaller blue one hissed, "That is not how you speak to your elders you little twerps! How about I show you how your supposed to speak? Vox should have taught you better!" The hatchlings hissed at the mention of their mother. How did this dragon know about her?

Daemos was first to make the obvious connection and hissed to the others, "She's an Elements Dragon!" They glanced between each other. So that's how this dragon knew their mother… but why would she be here? Minekia frowned, "Didn't mother once say she was an out cast? Maybe they're here to bring her in or something." That made the all tense. They shifted together a little closer as Minekia hissed at the blue dragon, "Try it: we've our own little nasty surprises for you."

The blue dragon hissed and stepped forward but the green one caught her shoulder, "Auque! We've got enough problems without you trying to harm hatchlings barely a few years old."

She turned to hiss at him, "But even I knew better then that at their age Terro! What do you expect me to do? Sit here and let them insult me? They need to be taught some manners!"

Drkhons, hearing the argument from his den walked into the cave, "What's going on?" Seeing the situation he walked forward quickly, "Stand down you guys! I don't need your mother finding out you attacked a visitor!"

Minekia hissed, "But they want mother! We're not letting them have her."

Terro turned to the hatchling, "We wont do anything to harm her!"

Bertia hissed, "I don't trust you! For all we know you'll try and kill her!"

Auque snapped her jaws, "Don't you dare speak to him like that! I'll tear that griff off your head if you say one more insult!"

Drkhons turned to Auque, "You really don't mean that do you? She's just a hatchling!"

Terro turned to Bertia, "What makes you think we'd do anything to your mother?"

The fight started to degrade and the noise level started to rise. Insults started being traded and both Terro and Drkhons tried to calm the two sides down to little effect as it slowly started getting out of hand. Veror after about three minutes of keeping quite started joining in trying to calm the two sides down but also failed.

After a while Vox aroused by the rising noise from the main cavern slunk out hissing. But thinking she would find Bertia and Aegrexis arguing again she instead found her mother, grandfather and her hatchlings in a loud argument. She covered her ears for a moment to block out the rising sound but when it proved to be inadequate she yelled, "Everyone! Shut up!" The silence was far more deafening then the noise. A bat who had been hiding in the main cavern, surprised by the sudden booming voice let go of where it was perched and fell, impaling it's self on one of Veror's many horns. "Now, what's going on here?"

Auque opened her mouth for a sharp retort but Terro slapped his tail across it making the water dragon sputter at the sudden taste of dirt and mud. "We came to let you know of a celebration and found these younglings. The black one demanded why we were here, Auque told her to watch her mouth and things degraded form there. I'm not sure who's hatchlings they are since they don't look like Elemental hatchlings they can't be yours, but Auque is under the impression that who ever their parents are need to teach them some manners." Auque snapped her mouth shut and decided to glare at a wall.

Vox sighed and rubbed the side of her neck with one hand, "Sorry to tell you Terro, but they're mine." That made both dragon's gazes shoot to her. "The black one is Minekia, she has control over shadows as far as I know so far, the green one is Bertia, we're not sure about her yet but we think its nightmares, the blue is Veror, he we're positive is fear. The purple one is Daemos, and she's divination, while the tan one is Aegrexis, his is Scars. They are my children. And Drkhons's half siblings." She smiled.

Terro blinked, "I had only heard you found a new mate and laid eggs… I didn't know with whom or… why are they not full Elements Dragons? Who exactly did you mate with?"

A chilling voice behind them spoke making the hatchling jump for joy and run past the two dragons. Auque spun around with annoyance in her eyes, "Who are…" she trailed off as the large form of Abyss came into view slowly forming from his mist. Terro grunted in amusement at Auque. "I know you…"

Abyss smiled, "I believe you do. I know about your peaks into the lair when Vox and I were asleep before the eggs hatched. Little hides from me here." He leaned down to nuzzle the hatchling and herded them back towards Vox, "So what are you two doing here? I believe something about a celebration?"

Terro grunted, "The life Dragon decided to hold a celebration for Flameavo's and Icearia's first clutch together. She seems in a good mood about something witch I'm wanting to keep for as long as possible."

Abyss chuckled with a graveyard humor and turned to Vox, "Mind if I come along? I want to see the rest of the…" He frowned as he searched for the right word, "Family." He smiled. But Auque had another opinion all together.

"This celebration is for Elements Dragons alone! Not for some half-ass no-line!" She sniffed disdainfully at him and Abyss sighed turning to Vox. Her looks told him yes but she instead said, "We'll _talk_ about it." Abyss smiled in triumph.

It was a while later that Terro and Auque left. The Earth Dragon asking Abyss about his own race. And just like Vox when he learned about the volcanic bit he paled a little. Auque out right screamed about them being insane. It amused Abyss to no end. But only a few hours after that Abyss and Vox left for the celebration.


	6. Lurking Troubles

Yay! We finaly finished another chapter! This one Abyss owns Rakhead with ease XD

* * *

**Chapter 6: Lurking Troubles**

To say that Vox wasn't happy about returning to Vitas realm was an understatement.

She never much loved to be in the realm, and the hate has mounted over the years. The perfect sunset colored sky, the puffy clouds, the lush crisp earth and pure water, the overall tranquility... it got on her nerves. It was too fake, it was too calm. The skies were set permanently in the ruby, orange, blue and purple of the sun set or a rise. The clouds were always scarce, just enough to provide a contrast to the colorful sky. Rain fell is glistening rainbows, and lustrous colored winds blew subtly. The earth was blaring shades of green, with tan savannas, blue oceans, gray and white mountains and bright flowers. to any human, it would look like paradise. There were various regions as well; a winter like, a crystalline, a shadowed, a fiery, and a watery were all around the large sphere. Forests, oceans, lakes, mountains and plains, each more grand than any found on earth ran across the surface. It was Vitas greatest creation, it was her home. She ruled it with an iron first.

In the middle of a lush forest ringed by a large curved mountain rage that circled outward in thirteen rings, a deep ring between each, was a marble white palace. The towers and very bulk of the palace was larger than anything any human had built, equally over ten times as large as Earth. A large crystalline dome was visible from the front, with huge stained glass windows with pictures of various historic events on the front walls. The arch with thirteen gems embedded in the white stone towered about even the biggest dragon, the decorative swirls and fire carved upon them adding to the awe. Inside the first room, where the crystalline dome caught the light and shone it in subtle light colors around, had eight pillars of marble, with two fountains on the sides. A large black perching rock was at the far end, and a pool with a lush garden around it in the center. Overall, the room could fit over a billion dragons easily, and has before. This was Vitas grandest room, the place where she held random things of her line.

The rest of the palace consisted of libraries, pools, lava rooms, gorgeous stairs, paintings, fountains, glass windows, hanging crystal and various other precious metals, whole waterfalls, and even a forest room. It had anything you could imagine, for Vita wanted it all. The main room in the center bore large spiraled stairs, with spiraled down into the earth down to a large underground maze of tunnels. The tunnels branched out of the thirteen mountain ranges, where most of the line of Vita lives. Caves and caverns were dug out of ever mountain, and each range had a large heated nursery for eggs. Vitas own room was located in the highest tower reached by huge steep spiraled stairs.

As Terro, Auque, Vox and Abyss flew over the Crystal region towards the huge palace seen in the distance, Vox was grumbling and growling. She disliked being here, she hated Vita, and she hated being with others of her kind. She could stand very few of them, and even fewer she actually liked. Her mother, son, and sister were the only ones she truly loved. Others were neutral, and then there were the ones that hated her. They were spited potential mates, dragons she had hunted trophies off of, and those she had hurt in another way. All of them would love to see her dead. Or at least broken and beaten. She growled loudly at the thought, she was hoping no one would start anything.

Abyss had talked to her secretly about any way he could remain unnoticed during the event. She had told him that most Vitals and Dragons of Vitas line had humanoid slaves and servants that helped them and did things for them. She had seen that mischievous look in his eyes and knew what he was thinking. Abyss had taken a human form probably hundreds of times before, and he had taken one as they left the Lair. She now rode on her back, dressed as a mage. The rest of his mist had scattered and was slowly creeping along the walls of the palace already.

Terro banked and flapped his large leaf-like wings, the huge tree branch mess of horns on his head wavering slightly. Vox's mother fallowed in the bank, her watery wings glistening in the sun who ran across the sky. Vox herself traveled at the back, as she was reluctant to attend. Terro noticed this and called back to her, "Vox, what brought you to accept our invitation when you could have denied?"

Vox grunted, smoke escaping her nose, "You forget I am indebt to you, Terro."

Auque looked at her daughter then at Terro, blinking in confusion, "Debt?"

Vox nodded, "Terro had warded of Infection, Illness, and other of the like at my asking for Naeovex. Terro, as you know, does not need help often. I figured this was the least I could do to get out of debt from him."

Terro chuckled, "Yes, being undebted would benefit us both, my granddaughter."

At last, the large grassy landing site in front of the entrance arch was in view. All three dragons dived, Terro swooping in and braking with his tail. He thumped to a landing, his green scales shining. He moved out of the way as his daughter broke with her tail, landing expertly and softly on her liquid limbs. She shook out, a few water droplets excepting. Vox circled and pulled in her wings, braking not with her tail, but with her rear legs. Normally she did, but today, she wanted to make a noisy entrance. Indeed, the loud thud of her landing made the few dragons in the room look up at her. She saw a few eyes widen at her site, but most of them narrowed. A few lips pulled up into a sneer and growls echoed off the walls. She just smirked and tossed her frill, walking with her head high, her wings puffed, and her talons out.

Most dragoness and a few dragons had servants to fix scales and add on fake scales to hide scars. Things like cracks, dents, misshapen and overgrown scales were easy to fix. However, Vox had none, and her scales bore the rough and pure evidence of being a fighter. Still, she had added a vinyl to her scales to make hem gleam in the light, and her membranes were slightly liquid to shine. a red eye shadow was under her eyes and glitter on her shoulders. She looked younger and more vibrant than she had in years. She walked proudly and dignified, just to piss others off, into the room, walking right up and sitting next to a fountain. And Abyss's human form vanished into the shadows.

Hisses and whispers broke out, and dragons of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, golden, silver, and black scales all stared at her. She could pick out a few smitten flyers that had tried and failed to coarse her into picking them to be her mate. She saw all the vitals, and a few drakes and drakka. Overall, very few of the line was here, which was good. Things would have gotten out of hand had more been here...

And then there was Vita herself.

The large dully glowing white queen dragoness was laying on top of the black perching rock, her tail curling and uncurling like a snake. Her shining golden mask with the fake horns was reflecting the low light the dome let in. Her feathered wings were down lazily other the sides of the rock, her overall posture lazy. She easily dwarfed any other dragon in the room, and her very presence sent the room cold. Or, at least to Vox, it did.

The life dragon smiled at her grand daughter, "Well, I wasn't expecting you to actually attend, Vox Vocis Cruora. What a pleasant surprise! How have you been?" Her voice was chilling, but Vox had heard one being that beat her out in terms of chilling voices.

Vox glared at the life dragon fully, glaring right into the hidden eyes, "You should know the answer to that, tyrant." she hissed.

Eyes widened around the room, and a staring contest between life and blood ensued. Vox had only once before called Vita a tyrant in front of others. they all knew why Vox thought she was, but they still thought she was rash. they did not know of the proof she did not know of Minekia and of her other illegal moves. To them, she fallowed her own laws. and in front of them, she did. She was very cunning. She never lost at her own game.

Vita chuckled, "You always were the odd one, Cruora. Always yearning for attention."

Vox thumped her tail, her talons scratching the floor, "I am not the dragon that yearns for attention, you fill that void very nicely."

Vitas griff twitched, and the bit of her face that could be seen moved like her eye had too. The corners of her mouth pulled up into a semi-aggressive snarl.

"Watch your tongue, Blood, or it may just be missing one day."

Vox promptly stuck her long, un-forked tongue out, and held it as much as she could over her nose, staring at the tip intently. She looked stupid, but she soon tilted her head to the side and blinked. Her tongue slithered back inside her mouth after a few moments.

Vita opened her jaws in disgust, "Much you take everything someone says to you so literally?"

Vox smirked evilly, sending chills down a few other dragon's spines, "Yes, I do. Just like you have to be an deceiving tyrant."

Vita was about to comment, but a rather noisy appearance made her turn her attention to the doors in the corners beside her. her son, RaeKeed, walked in, his scales an membrane black. Vox titled her head to the side.

He had been purple the last time she saw him, when she had stole his eye right out of his head.

She snickered, _the dragon that my paint his scales to look intimidating is the dragon that looks like a moron._

O0O

Abyss leaned against a wall watching the events unfold. His mist had crept into the room unnoticed while everyone watched Vox and Vita. Shadows crept up the pillars around the room as he watched events. The mist listened closely to the conversations the dragons were settling into. So he moved his human form over to a gaggle of what first appeared to be slaves. His arms, hidden by the robes he had on, crossed in front of his chest.

Slowly he glided towards them his eyeless gaze scanning the room. As he came upon the slaves it became apparent that these "elemental dragons" thought little of the lesser races. Few were lucky enough to even have rags for clothes. He snorted in disgust at their treatment. And was impressed when a few started passing out what first appeared to be some form of goo.

When one of the distributors came around to him they gazed in awe at his gilded robe and offered him a bowel with a bow. He slowly shook his head, "Others look like they need the food more then me. Feed them instead." With another bow the servant scurried off and he smiled.

His robes, a sky blue with gold and ruby red gilding was a design he had borrowed from a mage during his stay at Anatelle. His robes had cost enough to build several small houses. And looked like it also, so to these servants he must have looked as if he was part of a hierarchy.

Abyss slowly let his gaze drift about the servants again, more and more raising their eyes to look at him as he walked forward. Elves and humans look at him with envy, and a few with curiosity. The Destroyer could easily guess why: who did he serve to allow him such finery? An elf was huddled in a corner and the other servants gave her a wide birth as if afraid of touching her. He frowned and walked forward only to be stopped by who looked to be a small farm boy, "My lord, please don't. She belongs to Vita, the Life Dragon her self! We do not dare go near her or we might incur her wrath… she is very protective of what is hers."

Abyss's turned his hooded head to the boy and those that had gathered to help ward him off. When he spoke he watched a few go pale from his voice, then even paler from his words, "I do not fear her wrath… I fear few… and they give me reason to. Now step aside before I make you." The boy visibly gulped and scurried away. As the crowd gave way to him he walked towards the elf.

The elf noticed him quickly, and also noticed his robes just as quickly. She curtsied and lowered her gaze, "What may I do for my lord?" Abyss smiled and walked to stand next to her so his gaze could travel to the life dragon.

"I understand that you serve the life dragon. But I am curious to know what use you are to her. I have a feeling she doesn't take just any one." He never uncrossed his arms and his robe hid his feet. Feet that weren't truly there. Despite what one saw of the form, it had no legs, arms, it didn't even have eyes. But the robe effectively hid it all.

The elf grimaced showing obvious strains on what she thought she should tell him, "She chose me because of my skill with working with nails and talons. For my work and service she granted me immortality. I've been around since she first made her realms almost 12 billion years ago."

Abyss chuckled and gave a half smile. It made the elf shudder noticeably. "I'm a mere five million. I envy you that you don't have to witness the atrocities of men if I know what the Life Dragon would do with you right. But I guess there are some blessings in-" He cut off mid sentence. Tala's eyes shot up. But the human form in front of her burst into smoke, as if suddenly incinerated.

CoSimus, the dragon of consciousness. Was suddenly thrown across the room from where he stood, smashing through a pillar. The shadow that had suddenly surged off the pillar it had been attached to slowly formed into the human mage that no one paid any attention to as he had slipped from Vox's back and into the shadows. But now all eyes were on him. FlamAvo, with whom he had been speaking stared agape. "How dare you assault an Element's Dragon you lowly human!"

The hooded face turned to the dragon of fire and a smirk graced it's features. But his voice seemed to suck all the heat from the room, matching the cold in Vita's voice easily, "I can stand being in the Life Dragon's presence for a short time as to enjoy this celebration. But to listen to a dragon of what ever standing insulting Vox is one affront I shall not stay my hand against. For such a colorful insult I think he deserves to leave with at least one wing still attached. But I'm taking the rest of his limbs."

Vox stormed over to him, "What do you think your doing? You agreed not to start anything if I let you come along!" Her frown and narrowed eyes made Abyss sigh.

He turned and gave a derogatory gesture towards the now unconscious form of CoSimus, "I shall not stand idle while you are insulted love. But now if you don't mind and since I'm already revealed this human form is a bit annoying here. I'd prefer to listen to the family face to face not from a wall." Before she could detest the human form grew and changed as the unnoticed until now mist rose from the floor and shadows detached from the pillars around the room, all coming together into Abyss's assumed shape of the masked, eyeless dragon.

He smiled at Vox as he hooked a fruit off a table with his tail, sending it flipping through the air and catching it neatly with a hand. He opened his mouth to take a bite, and a second horizontal jaw opened to take a large bite from the fruit, he let the juices drip from his mouth as he slowly licked them off. He smiled as he ate the rest of the fruit, then speared a cow off the table with his tail, then consumed the entire beast in one bite, letting it's blood mix with the fruit juices already slowly trailing down his jaw.

Abyss was rarely a messy eater and only then when he was in a hurry. It was obvious almost immediately to Vox that he was doing this to disgust the other guests. Vox burst out laughing as what he was doing registered on the guests. Most of the females hissed in disgust at least four fainted; who exactly escaped her. FlamAvo and a few other males roared in outrage Terro and some of the eldest turned away rolling their eyes and Auque hissed to Vox, "Does he normally do that?"

"No he doesn't, but it's amusing all the same." She laughed again as Abyss started licking off the liquids rolling his eyes back and forth as he licked his chin.

Vita had a separate reaction. "How dare you insult us with your presence? How dare you insult us with your filthy habits?" Her roar was deafening. Her disgust was evident as she snarled. "Who do you think you are to come in here and ruin this celebration?"

The blood and juice vanished from Abyss's chin drawing even more attention. "I? I am Abyss Rha Rian Ve Dark Ultilma, also known as The Destroyer. I am the second son of the God of Destruction. And you tyrant. As far as the powers I serve care, are an insignificant mite of little more importance as the key link to the food chain. Because you can be replaced. I am here to meet my new family. I might as well learn who my children will be related to… and so far? I'm unimpressed. As Vox has probably told me in passing before I doubt any of you would last a day on my world. Let alone against one of the dragons my sister molded after me."

A number of dragons screeched in outrage. And the fury in the room was palpable. Vita's masked face was twisted in rage, as the dragons around them hissed. Abyss's smirk didn't even twitch.

RaeKeed gave into his rage and lunged at him. Vox rolled her eyes in disbelief but before she could do any thing Abyss's tail snapped around with impossible speed. It slammed against the side of his head and turned one of his many horns to dust. Another lightning blow and everyone could clearly hear the bones in his wing snap.

As the dragon stumbled away Abyss rose from his feet. Staring at Vita, his smirk gone and replaced by a snarl, "I think it's time these dragons learned a little something." Vox's eyes shot to him, but he paused for only a moment, "Vox may be content with you keeping your distance but I forgive very little. And forgiving an attack on my children is one thing you shall never see from me. You struck our Lair without a pause. And you wounded one of my children to the point of Death! If Nex had not been kind and refused her she would be dead. A friend of mine has ensured her long term survival, but why she chose to do so freely I do not wish to know, so I'll count my blessings."

This sudden revelation of facts caused the hissing to stop in bewilderment. Some of the females opened their eyes wide. Vita's face twisted into a snarl of unbridled fury, "How dare you beast! I shall strike you dead here!" She raised her perfect claws in a position to strike him and he smiled. As the claws descended he disintegrated and she struck air.

He reformed again behind a table shifting through the food, "That's the best you got? I say! Try a little harder! I want a good fight from the demon that tried to slay my mate and clutch." Vita snarled and launched a fire ball at him. He ducked into the fruits and let it sail over his head.

As he stepped back, consuming more fruits he smiled, "The hottest fire in the world is useless if you don't know how to use it. Let me demonstrate." He roared and a chain of lightning erupted from his maw, sweeping into the stone above Vita's head making it cascade down onto her mask.

The rage on Vita's face was evident and she took another swipe at Abyss, but just like last time he turned into mist. But as he reformed he was hit by the back of that same paw. The force from Vita's blow sent him skidding across the floor and through a column. Making him crash into the wall behind it, making a massive impression. Abyss stood from the rubble smiling and otherwise not the worse for the wear, "Now _that_ was a _hit_! You should do more like that! Might make me bruise!"

Vita hissed, "You impudent whelp! I'll burn you to ash and ruin you until not even my brother would want you! Now die!" An inferno erupted from her maw, and it enveloped Abyss. The fire that raged where he had been standing was intense and Vita roared in laughter, "Poor Cruora, I've slain your mate, do you see now why you do not challenge me?"

Vox laughed. "Fool tyrant, you underestimate the power your enemies have and overestimate your own. I would challenge you thrice over for I know you are coward enough to run away each time!" Vox continued to laugh as Vita snarled, but recoiled as Abyss suddenly appeared next to Vox as if he was always there.

"Beautifully said my love. She is a coward and does underestimate her enemies. Explains why you've driven her off what now? Twice?" His smile faded as he looked at Vita again, "I believe play time is over if you know what I mean."

Vita snarled and lunged at him with the intent of biting the impudent whelp's head off. But her maw was stopped short. She pushed against the resistance that turned out to be his mist but it refused to yield. Abyss rose from next to Vox, seeming to walk on invisible steppes as his form slowly disintegrated. "When you hurt Minekia you ruined a leg. Part of her tail, her chest and heart. Her griff. Her eye." His form paused in listing off her injuries as it finished dispersing into mist.

Then a new form started forming. First his hands at Vita's jaws. Then his arms, and slowly the rest of him. His eyeless head, his crest. His snake-like body and massive sweeping wings. A beast born from nightmares of an unknown world. Abyss's titanic True Form smiled, "These are the wounds I wish to impart on you. So you know the pain she has gone through for these last few years since your last visit. Don't worry. It won't hurt much… at first."

He tossed head aside with surprising strength, then slammed his tail into the side of her head as it landed. Vita reared back from the sudden burst of pain and Abyss launched himself forward. He slammed into Vita's chest and forced her through the wall behind her. The stone gave way easily to their weight and the force moving them. As they carried through stone Vita tried to strike at Abyss but he constantly changed his form so her attacks all went astray. A blow here caused him to shift his form away and striker her the opposite way the attack came.

As the third wall broke Vita caught her tail on a pillar canceling their forward momentum and making them shoot off course. Abyss was thrown from her as she crashed through a crowd of pillars that marked the slave's quarters. Humans, Elves, and even the odd dwarf fled as the massive beasts crashed into the towering room.

O0O

Abyss rolled to his feet with ease as Vita scrambled to hers. Pain filtering through her body, her griff flared out, her jaws opened in a roar and she splayed her wings, "I'll tear you to pieces!"

Abyss smiled again, then parted into several smaller pieces like he had been through a grinder, "How about now? I'm in pieces." Vita roared and reared, breathing with all her might a huge stream of white flame at him. He quickly reformed and a beam erupted from his mouth. Knocking the Life Dragon's fire aside like a toy and slamming into her chest. Vita shrieked in pain and anger as she was tossed. She slammed into another wall and was tossed out over a forest, vanishing among the immense trees, screaming all the way.

Abyss turned away from the hole in the wall to return to the grand hall.

O0O

Vita shrieked as she fell into the forest around her castle, her massive bulk sliding when she landed. Massive trees were pulled from their roots and others snapped and landed on her. But she didn't care. A few prongs on her masks horns broke, and many parts of her body hurt. She opened her jaws, hissing in pain as it felt very broken. She didn't move a muscle, she didn't need to. She had been defeated, thrown out of her own palace. On her own world. Beaten by a stranger, a life she did not give permission to be, in front of the Vitals: her children and grandchildren. Her body ached, but his fact hurt her even more: took her pride and threw it at the wall, then stomped on. All she stood for, all she was, she was beaten. She was life.

She couldn't be beaten.

She clenched her jaws together, snarling in pain, embarrassment and sheer pure anger. Under her mask, her eyes watered, and tears slipped from her eyes. Her body burned with hate, and her fire bladder expanded as it gained the gas needed for dragonflame. She rolled her head and forced her limbs and body to move. Many bones were broken, but beings shoved through walls over three feet thick that were stone with a layer of diamond in it could do that to you. She walked away, head bowed, wings dragging on the ground.

For eons, she stood firm against everything and anything, survived forces that was sure to wipe her out. Made everything in the universe, set everything in motion.

And now, she was broken and battered like a ragdoll.

She reached up and tore her mask from her face, opening her eyes for the first time in ten billion years.

The black orbs were blazing in rage, glowing with a kind of evil menacing force.

She would take revenge. She would tear that impertinent over-powered bastard limb from limb, bone from flesh, organ from body. She would kill him, and she would defeat him.

O0oo0O

Vox had watched the entire endeavor, simply standing back and away. She had known that it was pointless to try to help Abyss, she would have only gotten in the way. Many of the dragons around her were horrified, other were sneering with disgust. But she was just sitting there. She felt surprisingly empty, indifferent, calm. But her scales were raised, her breathing was fast, and her eyes were a dark violet. Her tail twitched; a testament to her nervousness.

She knew.

The fear and the questions flooded her body, the uncertainty and the anxiousness.

Vita was never one to lose. She always had to win. And in the end, she always would win.

She knew that Abyss knew very little of her kinds history, but she knew it all. She knew each of the Chaos wars by heart because she fought in them. She knew of each time Vita lost, and knew the Life Dragons reaction. She knew that vita would be hit hard by losing to Abyss, but she knew that it would hurt Vita more losing on front of her line.

No one does that to an Elements Dragon; it is the greatest blow to any dragons pride and sanity.

Vox closed her eyes, but nothing could erase what she was certain was going to happen.

She just didn't know when.

She reopened her eyes, flattening her scales and forcing her body to look calm and forcing her face to wear a snug expression. But her eyes remained dark violet. She looked around, and decided it would be best if they left. The others were starting to turn their gaze to her now, as if she made this happen. She couldn't have given a damn if they thought that, but she wanted to back get to the lair. Something all of a sudden didn't feel right. She looked back at Abyss, and walked over to him.

She touched her small (compared to him) nose to his and pressed her head and neck to his shoulder in a fluid motion, "We should leave." She said, trying to mask her voice from the blur of feelings and fear that coursed through her.

Abyss rested a hand on her head and slow reformed into his smaller form, "I agree. Let us go…" Vox led the way to the exit, and took flight with Abyss at her side. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of her in the near future."


	7. The Face of The End

**Chapter 7: The Face Of The End**

Minekia and Daemos left only minutes after their parents. Then it took them only a few minutes to fly to the beach and from there start to comb it. For about an hour they scurried across the warm sand shifting through it for anything that shined. Like Pearls, Clams, sea shells, and other things. At one point Minekia found a Human Skull with the name "Blackbeard" engraved in it with what seemed to her to be a knife but tossed it away and continued nosing through the sand. A minute later she had found a buried trove of treasure.

With Daemos's help the two young female dragons got the heavy chests farther up the beach. The next two hours passed with little events after that. "Minekia! I thought you said we would find sea shells! All we've found is a bunch of gold and gems." Minekia's head popped out of the sand at her sister's voice.

"I said we might. Didn't say we would." He head sunk back into the sand.

Daemos grunted at her sister and slowly worked her way to the distant rocks. As she neared them the sand slowly gave way to more stone. Spotting something flashing the hatchling brightened, "Minekia! I think I've found something!" She charged across the intervening boulders to where a side of the small cliff was flashing strangely.

But as the boulders started to become jagged she slowed down and started to hope from one to another, the swelling waves splashing the jagged rocks to a slick surface. She was proud she stumbled only once but otherwise found the flashing unharmed.

At first the flat stone area looked normal. But before Daemos's eyes it started flashing again… almost like a pulse. A soft glow came from it, flashing every couple of moments. So entranced was she with the flashes that the Divination Hatchling didn't notice her sister come up behind her, "What'd you find?" Daemos nearly leaped from her skin and Minekia chuckled, "Interesting. The Fearless Shiny got spooked."

Daemos stuck her tongue out at Minekia who slid up to the pulsing rock with unnatural grace, "And what is this-" She got cut off as it suddenly started to spark. Both Hatchlings jumped back as the first one nearly struck Minekia in the nose. Then as they watched lines of electricity traveled across the patch of stone as if it was conducting it.

Then the words started to appear.

They came letter by letter slowly. At first illegible Minekia started to make out words. Her flawless memory dredging up the time when their mother tried to teach them how to read Draconian, filling in the blank spaces with obvious answers, and found her self quietly reading aloud as it appeared.

"You who read,

Read now from where you are.

They who come through here,

Come from there.

From Anetelle they come,

To you they go.

Fear now the unknown.

For Armageddon has come."

As the words came to an end she felt her body run cold as the grave. "Daemos… Run!" She could recognize a summoning spell when she saw one. At first the Divination Dragon looked at her sister bewildered but when the word suddenly flashed with immense power the shiny hatchling spun and ran.

Minekia turned on a pin prick and chased after her sister, the two hatchlings running for all they were worth. Before they could get far though a portal that covered where the letters were opened up, and though it Minekia could see a burning landscape. Immense, sweeping, majestic building that made even Vita's palace pale in comparison blazed with dark fires. A scene that chilled Minekia to the core. From where she stood she could see burnt corpses of Humans. Women, children, soldiers, it didn't matter. All were dead, a few of the bodies were nothing but a sculpture of ash. But the sculptures were so perfect Minekia could make out every detail of their pain and fear-ridden faces.

Behind them and the burning structures was a sky darker then Vita's blood. And far more chilling then Nex's realm. Minekia spun to her sister and shoved her towards the forest and the Lair, "Daemos! Run! Go find one of the others! Tell them that something came through the portal! If I don't catch up, tell them that it's dangerous!" With that she turned back to the portal and started dashing towards it.

Daemos stumbled but ran anyway looking over her shoulder, "What about you?"

Minekia screeched over her own, "I'll slow what ever it is down!" With that the Divination Dragon vanished into the under brush before taking off towards the lair. Hopefully the Shadow Dragoness didn't get herself killed…

O0o

As Daemos vanished into the distance Minekia turned her full attention to the portal. She could feel the evil coming through it in waves. It made her think back, to the time when Vita attacked the Lair. The evil was palpable. But this time there was a difference. This evil didn't have rules in this dimension to follow. She felt fear root her to the spot. The power she sensed was vast.

The sheer vastness was impossible. The only ones with that kind of power were Vox and Vita… and her father. But the sudden force and wind that appeared through it confirmed what she felt as the power and Evil closed to the opening. It was the feeling of a being that shouldn't exist. A creature that was never meant to walk this, or any other world. But the power and it's Evil were proof it did exist.

It came through as a strand of matter. If it could even be called that… It was a grey, metallic substance. It gave off the same aura of wrongness that the essence she felt had. But as it came through so did the essence and she knew she was looking at it. But as the last of it passed she still felt the wrongness on the other side of the portal… dulled to an extent she could still feel the vast power. Another being that should not exist but did. And one that had power that was far beyond anything she had felt before… but a sudden burst of memory reminded her she had felt something like that before.

From Eyhain.

Then the portal suddenly snapped shut and cut off the essence. She quietly prayed to what ever gods that watched over her the other essence didn't come through. But the sudden movement from the other that did brought her back to reality. First the small strung out mass squirmed as if trying to remember it's form, then slowly started to shift like clay. And before her eyes a new being the likes of witch she had never seen before stood from the ground, his voice chilling to an entirely different level almost on par with Eyhain, "Disgusting… I have to deal with another Beautiful planet… It'll take me months again!"

Then he seemed to notice Minekia's presence and turned, "What do we have here? Looks like a hatchling. Curious… Oracle hatchlings never range far from the nest… I guess I get an early lunch…" He smiled viciously and Minekia gulped, she wasn't going to survive this… They lunged at the same time.

O0o

Daemos flapped her wings for all she was worth. But her mind kept roaming back to Minekia… What if she couldn't fight off what ever it was on her own? The Divination dragon squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to think. For the last few years Minekia had been the leader between the two. And the de-facto leader among the hatchlings. She worked as the "Older Sibling" and was always the mature one when the rest got into trouble or any hair-brained ideas. And it was almost always she the one who got them out of it. And now she could be alone against something she couldn't beat and Daemos was here running away!

The Divination Dragoness snarled and spun midair on her tail tip. A trick only Minekia had ever been able to improve on against her, and sped back towards the beach. She wasn't going to leave her sister to fight alone!

O0o

Minekia had rolled in mid air to avoid his strike, gliding past his defenses like a drill. Crashing into his head the creature rocked off balance and she rolled across the ground, dazed from the impact. The Creature recovered first.

He swung a mighty blow at the small dragon and rent stone as she dodged ungracefully. She stumbled and he kicked her, sending her skipping across the sand. She hissed in pain and scrambled to her feet. Father's training taking over.

She sunk into the ground, using the hidden shadows between the grains of sand, then reappearing from his and lunged at his face. A moment of surprise flickered across his face as she appeared out of literally nowhere and slammed into his face. He roared in pain and snatched at her.

She jumped off as he almost grabbed her leg and while she was in mid air a thin strand of _something _formed in his hand and danced through the air like a whip. For a moment Minekia felt it lash into her scales and she was suddenly skidding out across the water. The sting from it coursed through her body and she hissed.

His laughter was chilling as she slowly stood up from the shallow water that reached up to her shoulders. The Shadow Dragoness hissed and drove her wings into the ground under the water and massive black spikes erupted from under his feet. When nothing moved she sighed in relief that she might have won.

She never saw the whip that struck her in the back of the head.

Minekia slammed into the stone face of the small cliff and felt her shoulder blades shatter. He paused to laugh at her futile attempts to fight him, "I can't believe how easy this is! I've had harder fights from lesser beings!" Behind him, through blurred vision Minekia could see Daemos appearing in the distance. No! What was she thinking?

The male creature noticed Minekia's quickening of breadth and turned to look at what she was. "Ah, there's the other one. I was wondering if she was just a coward but apparently not." A corner of Minekia's mind held onto a pale hope that she had found some one and told them but the part of her mind that was still rational knew she wasn't gone long enough to find any one. Nothing was this close to this beach at this time in the morning. She snarled and lunged at the larger creature.

In one movement her body shifted, crushing her bone back into their proper places and fusing them anew. Fully healing her to her normal state. And in the same movement, changed her wing into a extra hand. Sword-like fingers extended from her wing fingers and her membrane retracted giving the new fingers room to move… and she drove the sharp appendages into her opponent's back.

Veror would have chided her for fighting unfairly but Minekia was never one to fight fair. Cheap shots were her specialty. As the ends erupted form the creature's chest she snarled in triumph, "Die!"

Then he became a ball of spikes. Grey blood leaked from in between each of the black shards. And as Minekia hung there from the ball, heaving for breadth she smiled in relief. Daemos landed not far away and dashed closer, "Minekia! Are you alright?"

The Shadow Dragon nodded to her sister, "Yeah… just tired. Did you let them know about the portal?"

When Daemos grimaced Minekia knew she hadn't. "I told you too-" The ball of shards suddenly erupted and the hatchling was thrown. The solidified shadows passing through her without acknowledgement but the force of the eruption slammed her into the ground. The air was knocked from her lungs as the creature reared above her, anger etched onto every inch of it's face.

It's maw opened up wide and energy gathered into with such speed that it was only moments before a silver-gold ball of power radiated between it's jaws. Minekia's eyes grew wide as he fired, and the last thing she saw was a flash of grey.

O0o

Daemos stared in horrified disbelief at where Minekia had been laying. She couldn't even smell her sister anymore. Slowly the grey beast turned towards her. Daemos felt fear overcome here again. "Time for you to die also…" The hatchling slowly backed up as he walked towards her, her mind babbling. At his third step she did the only thing she could think of doing.

She dung her feet into the ground and straitened out her wings. They molded and shifted, her shoulders and neck shifting along with them, and gathered all of her sparkles on the front of them. Then in a singular moment squeezed her eyes shut and willed them to their brightest.

She had done the exact same thing only once before. It had been a day after Abyss had given her and Minekia lessons on shifting their bodies to new and different shapes. Unlike her sister and father, Daemos couldn't shift very much. She could only change her basic form. But it was enough. When all of her sparkles were focus to her front and she shaped her wings the right way it acted like a massive spot light. But what she didn't anticipate was how bright it got. The only one to witness was Bertia… and the only reason her sister could still see was because she was because the Dragoness of nightmare was yawning had her eyes squeezed shut tightly. But she had still been stuck seeing spots for months afterwards. Everyone else were asleep and were so not affected… they were only woken by the flash of light on the edge of their consciousness.

But as she willed her sparkles to their brightest the beast frowned at her sudden form change… and squeezed his eyes shut. But he had been too late. His eye had been fully open for the single instant Daemos needed… and the world was bleached pure white. Shadows were eradicated, had they been in holes or under rocks. Color vanished as everything became white. And nearly everything that witnessed the flash was instantly, permanently blinded.

The Divination Dragon's sparkles could hold their focused brightness for only an instant, and just as fast as the world became light, it returned to normal. Her body retook it's original shape, and she wondered if her attempt worked.

The last this the consciously remembered seeing was a flash of grey, and then blackness.

* * *

Much shorter one this time. Me and Unmercyful ran out of things to add and can't think of anything else. Remember to reply: reviews are missed when absent and might help with the production of new chapters.


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